The Many Personas of Taylor Hebert
by SeraphOcelot
Summary: AU. In one universe, Danny gets over the accident with a little help from his daughter. In another, the accident causes the rift between father and daughter to grow even more than usual. Taylor gains new friends in the form of her father's Union workers who introduce her to the world of Dungeons and Dragons.
1. Prologue : The Locker

**A/N : Hello and welcome to the first short chapter in what I hope will be a finished story! My mind wanders way too often and I lose interest quickly but I'll try my best. '** _ **Goddess of Spiders**_ **' will be put on an indefinite hiatus at this point. I can't seem to hammer out a plotline that doesn't seem cliche or just plain dumb. I'm still writing shorts for '** _ **Dance of Spears**_ **' and will be updating that collection when I do. Also, this is my first time writing first person, so please tell me what you think. Anyways, hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own the Persona series or Worm.**

 **Warning : THIS IS AN AU! That means I can do whatever I want. Also, I've only read Worm and Persona fanfictions (I've never read the original web series or played the game) so if anything is not canon, I don't really care.**

 _ **The Locker (Prologue)**_

The latter half of the term was peaceful. There was about a week more till break and I was pretty happy. The trio seemed to be avoiding me for whatever reason, but I did not mind. The other students still ignored me, even with the lack of bullying and I was once again reminded that I was just a plain, useless nerd who had no friends. Greg didn't count, his crush was obvious and I did not like him in that way, especially since he had never stood up for me.

The trio could push me all they want, but it was reassuring that they at least knew about plain old Taylor Hebert and were willing to spend some time off their days to make my life miserable. It was the loneliness that broke me. When dad wasn't at home, working overnight at the docks. I doubted he even cared at this point, so swallowed up in his grief he forgot he had a daughter at home. I barely saw him, only once every few months when his workers convinced him to come home.

I knew he blamed me for the accident. Blamed me for not calling when I was supposed to. Blamed me for not picking up the phone that night. I still saw it in his eyes when he thought I wasn't looking. He hated me, and that hurt more than the year and a half of bullying. Every month, the allowance I was provided seemed to be getting less and less. Even Eddie, his worker who he had assigned to 'babysit' me had noticed, but I knew he was too terrified of speaking up and losing his job. It was a hard time for a black man like him with the threat of the Empire constantly hovering nearby.

Enough of the sob story. There were some pros to the situation, even if losing my father completely overshadowed them.

Every day after school, Eddie and at least two other workers would come over with takeout dinner. If there was no school, Eddie would assemble an entire group of five to six friends and hang out at the house. He'd started this about two years ago when he first introduced me to my favourite game of all time - Dungeons & Dragons.

It was the best game I had ever played. A game where I could change myself into anything I could ever dream of. A game where I could escape the shell of the mortal Taylor Hebert. A game where you could do anything you wished was possible. I had played more than a 100 campaigns at this point, considering we played at least an hour to three a day. And I had made a completely different character every time.

I remembered being a charismatic rogue who could talk her way out of any situation - I died anyways because Eddie provoked an Ancient Dragon who proceeded to oneshot me before I could even talk, or run, - a paladin with a cursed shield that injured him every time he told a lie, and even a weird Alexandria-Eidolon combo who had an ego the size of a mountain. Good times. DnD also got me interested in mythology. It was an easy way for me to brainstorm new characters and campaigns by improvising and combining mythological stories and heroes like Hercules and Siegfried. A campaign where the adventurers had to go through twelve new labors and fight godlike dragons was both a challenge and my first experience as a Dungeon Master. Needless to say, I was pushed to being DM at least once a month after that weird plot line. Anyways, back to school problems.

It was the Friday right before break. I never had a reason to use my locker after the incident involving mom's flute and I unconsciously avoided it, mostly because it brought up bad memories I'd rather forget. Unfortunately, I was tempted by a note from Emma.

"Meet me at your locker after school and I'll tell you everything." It said.

It was an obvious setup for something. Even I knew that. But the chance that I could find out why she had turned all bitch mode after meeting Sophia was too much to pass up. Besides, they hadn't done much to me in the past few weeks so I was hopeful. Like any idiot would, I walked into a trap. Immediately, I noticed the smell as I approached. It was so strong, as if my locker had become a garbage dump. The next thing I did was questionable and frankly, real stupid on my part. I opened the door using my old code, and promptly, regretted it.

The smell of the tampons and literal crap they had shoved into my locker was painful to breathe in. The fact that there were bugs everywhere seemed to enhance the severity of the situation. I gawked. How long had they been storing these? How did I not notice? I walked by at least thrice a week for Chemistry damn it! I turned away, holding my breath as I attempted to shut the locker door, only to get blindsided by who I assumed to be Sophia. Disoriented, I could do nothing as I was shoved and locked into my own personal hellhole.

"You're so gullible Taylor! Did you actually think that I would tell you anything?" I shouted, kicking and punching, trying to get out. I could feel legs, crawling all over me, insects of all kinds biting at my skin. I felt blood flowing from cracked nails and scraped heels. Insects going in my ears, into my mouth, into every open orifice they could fit in. I cried for HELP. I screamed for justice. And I only got pain in return. So much pain. I didn't know how long I pushed, but the laughs were the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

 _QUESTIONS_

The mind of Taylor opened to a realm of new possibilities. Myths and Legends came to life. Power filled her soul as her Corona Pollentia enveloped her brain in a warm embrace. Within the darkness of the locker, a blinding light forms, unbeknownst to the ones outside.

 _HEROES_

Yes. Heroes. Her soul splits apart. Again and again. A million times over. Personalities are given form, heroes are given power and each are given a purpose, a name.

QUEEN

And when the dust settles and it is all over, she calls, desperate for an escape. And her personas answer.

"I am thou, thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I come. I am…"

 **Oh no cliffhanger. Please give me some ideas for Personas to use. It doesn't have to be a Persona from the series. Just some mythological or ancient dude or dudess that I can write for fun. :3**


	2. Vengeance 1 1

**A/N : Thank you so much for your feedback! Hopefully you'll like this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Seriously, I don't know how I even finished this chapter with a history test tomorrow… Anyways, hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own Worm or Persona!**

 _ **1.1 Personas**_

"I am thou, and thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I come. I am…" The voice shakes me out of my unconsciousness. It was only a few seconds later that I realised my mouth was moving and saying those words, yet, the voice was completely different from mine. My nose seemed to have gotten used to the smell of the locker and the bugs were miraculously keeping a wide berth from me. What had happened while I was out?

"I am…" The voice struggles to continue, as if it can't say its name. I played around with the dagger in my hands. Wait, dagger? A warm feeling envelopes my insides as the locker disappears around me and I once again meet the blissful feeling of darkness.

Then I'm awake again, this time in a palace of stars within the sky. It seems curiously empty, as if people were supposed to be there, yet there was no one in particular around. Was this a dream? Probably, but the absence of the smell and taste of crap and blood was a good reason to stay. Seeing nothing that could help, I continued into the gates.

"Is anyone there?" I had called out multiple times, yet no one answered. What a weird dream. It did take me away from the horrible prison that was my locker, but still, was it just here to mock my loneliness? I backtracked a bit. It started with those words and it made me…

Those words.

"I am thou and thou art I," I started. A small, yet bright light entered my vision. Then a woman.

She was taller than me, well-endowed too, with fair skin wearing what looked like a chiton, a dress used back in Ancient Greece. Her white hair shone brightly in the sunlight, and in her hands she held a greek-styled dagger, very similar to the one I had admired in my locker earlier. The most striking feature she had was her eyes which shone in an unnatural, amethyst hue. Her soft voice resonated throughout the palace as she completed what seemed to be a mantra.

 **From the wrath in your soul I have come**

 **From the darkness that birthed your scorn**

 **I am Medea, the Sorceress of the Revenge**

 **And I have come to lay waste to your deceivers.**

"Medea, as in Medea of the Argonauts?" She nodded. I was taken aback for a moment. _This is just a dream Taylor_. _Stop staring at that chest Taylor_. _Nope you do not want to have breasts that big_ , _imagine how much hurt your back's going to take_.

I was knocked out of my thoughts by a soft cough. "I can assure you that this is not a dream" _Okay_ , _now even the woman is trying to convince me that this is not a dream_. _Wait what_.

"What do you mean? This is obviously a dream." I pinched myself, expecting the dream to fade to black, but nothing happened. The woman who called herself Medea laughed.

"This is your soul." I blanched. Oh hell no. Not this spiritual crap again. I've read enough mythology to know that most gods and goddesses do weird things to souls like they own them.

"Unfortunately, that may be true for some of my less… savoury counterparts." Okay she needs to stop answering my unasked questions. She can read minds?

"No, You're just broadcasting your messages very blatantly. Take a deep breath and calm down." Okay Taylor, listen to the weird hot lady and calm down. Deep breaths. **Deep breaths**. Eventually, my heartbeat - not sure how I could feel it when I was in my soul - slowed down and left me with a thousand and one questions.

"Okay, so what's a witch doing in my soul exactly?"

"I was split from you." Her answer was vague, just like when any deity would answer any lowly human lifeform. I frowned, even more confused than I was before.

"Split from me?"

"Yes. There are many others as well, but they are hidden to you until you call their names." I choked - huh, who knew you could choke in your soul - and asked what exactly she meant by splitting?

"To make things simple, your soul was separated into different personalities. I am simply one of them." Even more questions popped up with every answer she gave. I was really starting to hate this 'not' dream. Medea sighed.

"Take this, it will explain." She handed the dagger over. My mind did not give me a name, yet I subconsciously knew that it was the same weapon that she had used to kill her brother. And when I touched it, I knew everything. I knew exactly how many calories I gained today, - damn I'm getting fat - how long I had been in the locker for and more drifted through my mind at a quick pace.

I saw her memories. Or a representation of her memories. How she was tricked by Jason, the man she loved, into betraying her family. How she had been so crazy in love she had killed her brother to allow her _lover_ to escape her father's clutches. The many nights she wept herself to sleep as she had been cursed to remember every moment of her brother's death. Jason who practically ignored her after she had sacrificed so much to help him. Her final moments as her _lover,_ her _husband_ stabbed her in the back.

And all that paled in comparison to the amount of spells, magic that spread through my mind like wildfire. Elemental magic. Dark magic. Greek magic. I knew instinctively how to cast them, how to use them.

I had **powers**. I was a cape! And it seemed like my power was to summon personifications of myths and legends into the mortal plane. That sounded really crazy now that I thought about it considering most heroes and villains within mythology were superbly over the top. But Dungeons & Dragons was not always fair, and I'd learnt from experience that I'd rather be overpowered than underpowered.

I handed the dagger back, but she shook her head. "It's yours now. Carry it with you. It will protect you even if I am not manifested within the mortal plane. It will help you keep calm when you wake." Her murmurs grew fainter as she slowly dissipated into the sea of my soul.

"It's time."

Another wave of darkness. And I'm back in the locker. Oddly, my mind was blank and calm, even with the disgusting smell and taste. I looked down at the dagger within my hands and grinned. _I wanted out_. And the dagger showed me the way.

Teleportation was disorientating and it took so much energy from my preserves. I had not expected that, even with Medea's vast knowledge of magic and I had lost my grip on the magical focus. The dagger dropped to the ground and I was assaulted by the fear, the terror once more. A growl ripped through my throat. I would never be this weak ever again. No more. I grabbed the weapon and began my plans. It was time for my vengeance. It was time for my justice. They would _pay_. And I would enjoy every second of it.

 **Next chapter will be meeting some other personas, as well as training, cause she weak like stick. I've compiled a list of personas that you all have suggested and I can't wait to introduce you all to my representations of these myths and legends. Please do continue to give me ideas, I really appreciate it.**


	3. Vengeance 1 2

**A/N : Sorry I've taken so long to update but I have mock exams in a few weeks and its been pretty stressful. It's been really fun to think up ways to write different characters' personalities and traits. Anyways, Taylor will be meeting a few of her personas this chapter as she experiments with her powers. Any ideas for cape names? I can't think of any that would fit the theme. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own Worm or Persona!**

 _ **Vengeance 1.2**_

I woke up at dawn every day. I spent the mornings and afternoons reading and completing my summer assignments. Then, I would play Dungeons & Dragons with Eddie and his group of friends when they were done with work. Sometimes we would go out and watch a movie or go shopping. They were sleeping over until the summer break ends, it was safer in my neighbourhood - they didn't have to worry about the Empire or the ABB giving them trouble. My area was close enough to the Protectorate headquarters that none of the gangs would hang around here. After dinner, I would go to sleep immediately after wishing them goodnight. It was a quaint and relaxing summer.

Or at least, that was what Eddie and his friends saw. Illusions were so useful, I learned, though mine were not as strong as Medea's, it sufficed for normal, mortal minds. Medea had taught me how to use runes, which helped to power this endeavor, as my magical energies were still not up to the task. Thankfully, I picked them up quickly, with Medea's and Arachne's knowledge. It was weird to say, hearing multiple voices in my head, but I had gotten used to them over time.

I now knew three of my apparently infinite Personas. Medea had introduced me to both, considering they were all from the Greek pantheon which I had read so much about. Medusa was one of them. She was a tall woman, her face bandaged with whitish almost gold paper, wearing what seemed to be sunglasses. Her hair was a mass of black, cascading down her back like snakes, constantly moving. She, like Medea, wore a chiton, but hers was decorated with a snake motif.

She was, eccentric to say the least. She came from a different part of my soul, the side which Medea described as everlasting darkness. Thus, she and Medea were both, completely different beings in both nature and mannerism. While Medea was quick to anger and sniped out insults, Medusa was calm, methodical and her memories were clouded in sadness and torture. She was soft spoken and never spoke unless spoken to. Her memories were bleak. Her head had stayed alive, even after the hero Perseus had beheaded her, and she had suffered eternally, attached to Athena's shield. A suffering existence was all she could attest to.

The other girl, completing the trio was Arachne. Her appearance was a welcome surprise, as Medea had not intended to introduce her yet. Her hair was short and curled, her unnaturally golden eyes always downcast. She wore the same Greek apparel I attributed to my lack of taste, with a Spider motif running down its back. From her back also emerged eight sharp spider legs, the curse from Athena running deep within her blood. She was painfully shy - the only reason I had met her being that I had seen a spider nest while exploring the Bay. This had lead me to remembering her story, and in turn had caused her to manifest in my part of the soulscape.

This had happened within a span of a week after I had completed the illusion rune and hid it in my room. After I had done that, I set out with Medea's help to find a desolate area to unlock parts of my soul that were holding me back. The Bay was the easiest place to search. It was abandoned and a safe haven for most independent heroes or villains and I had found my own area after many a journey.

The place was in a rundown cruiser ship, to be more exact, the part of the ship that used to be the ballroom. Within a couple of minutes after manifesting Medea to the mortal plane, she had used her magics to clear out the place and ward it from dangers. A small part of the large room held a comfortable, cotton bed that I had conjured after a painstakingly long lecture about magic. Meanwhile, the rest of the room was split into many different areas, all possible due to the space magic that Medea also knew. The common area was in the middle, holding a few seats and a whiteboard which all three personas used to teach me. While I had their memories, it was but a brief rundown of their history and a limited amount of powers I could draw from. To truly access their treasure trove of information, I had to learn. And learn I did.

To the left from the entrance of the ballroom was Arachne's area. While Arachne was shy, she was a great teacher (maybe because she was me?) and she taught me much about the magic of Greek runes and the power that came with it. She also taught me how to weave, though she never did it completely, her memories bringing her a small bit of PTSD. She would never complete one of her works again, fearing the retribution of Athena's jealousy. She also taught me how to weave in combat, using spells to create string stronger than steel and to bind enemies. The string could even be shaped into swords or needles able to cut through lead like it was butter. It was a beautiful art, yet it probably had little use for my current goals.

To the back area was Medusa's. It was the biggest by far with targets and training dummies. Medusa taught me armed combat, an art she had much knowledge of considering the millenia she had been grafted onto Athena's shield. Spears, swords, javelins, daggers, bows, you name it and she probably knew how to handle them like a master. She taught me the basics for each, though my body adjusted quickly due to her memories. Her skills meshed well with Arachne's weaving, skills I had slowly learnt to use together.

Finally, to the right was Medea's. It was slightly bigger than Arachne's area and about half the size of Medusa's. Medea taught all that I needed to know in Magic. Of course, she didn't know everything, but her spells catered to my need for revenge. Invisibility spells, poison spells, mind control, heck even elemental magic like fireballs, lightning strikes and freeze spells. With her help I crafted a plan. A plan that would be implemented in a month's time. One more month and Sophia, Emma and Madison would pay. Their due was in blood and suffering, one I would enjoy with every fibre of my being.


End file.
